Hina Tachibana
Hina Tachibana (橘 陽菜 Tachibana Hina) is the first heroine of the series. She is the elder sister of Rui Tachibana, but soon after her divorced mom, Tsukiko Tachibana, marries widower Akihito Fujii, she becomes Natsuo Fujii's step sister, too. Background She starts by being the English teacher and unnoticed crush of Natsuo. By the time she meets him, Hina is 22 years old, and has been in an unworthy relationship for almost two years with her highschool former teacher and first crush, Shū Hagiwara, who is already a married man. Seemingly affected by that fact, and the progressively increasing dissapointment of being in such a relationship, she has become affectionate to drinking since her last year at university. While at work, she uses her breaks to go to the rooftop to discharge her feelings. It is there where she becomes acquaintance with Natsuo, and because of his resolution for life, she starts admiring him, growing in fondness towards him as time passes by. It is due to all his sincere care and attention that she starts questioning her current affair, as well as growing feelings for Natsu. When she gets aware of that, she tries to discourage him up to three times, until she finally gives in to what she feels, thus devoting herself to support Natsuo to the fullest, trying the hardest to overcome her own flaws and even putting herself out for his sake. She has truly and deeply fell for him. Appearance Hina is a beautiful young woman with emerald eyes and a dark shade of brown long hair, with trimmed bangs parted above her left eye. Though she doesn't think highly about her hair, for once she tells Natsuo that “(hers) is totally straight cat-hair, (without) a sense of volume” - as she encourages him to touch it - he actually can't help but thinking otherwise, saying to himself: “(It’s) so brisk”Volume 1: Chapter 4, page 19. Back during her highschool years, her natural beauty combined with her friendly personality has made her an outcast in highschool due to the jealousy of female classmates. Nowadays, she is in her early twenties, but is used to dressing up formally - as a highschool teacher first and more as a hotel frontdesk - wearing a suit, a blouse and a knee-length skirt with medium-height heels. But at home she wears tops and shorts, and when she goes out, she wears nice dresses. So even though she is endowed with a nice femenine body, it is not perceived at simple sight. Personality Hina is definitely a pure-hearted gentle young woman. Though a little bit clumsy and helpless at cooking Volume 1: Chapter 4, page 13, her cheerful attitude mixed with her naiveness gives her an aura of tenderness impossible to go unnoticed. That actually caused her some distress back in her second year of highschool, when her female friends out of jealousy decided to shun her Volume 2: Chapter 14, page 9. That was the time she met Shū Hagiwara, a third year Biology teacher back then, who after noticing she was crying while eating left alone in the science lab, used a hand puppet and a trick on ventriloquy to take her out of her sadness. It turned out that she became a regular there, until the teacher left the school by the end of that year. That experience might have pushed her into pursuing the career of teaching. It is also pretty much likely that due to a necessity of a paternal figure added to the kindness of Hagiwara-sensei, she developed a crush on him, which led her to get involved into an affair with him time after they ran into each other as she was in her fouth year at the university. It is not so clear if she feels becoming a teacher is her true call Volume 20: Chapter 185, page 11, even though she admits she has worked really hard to get her license Volume 14: Chapter 132, page 14. Anyway, she is very commited to her students. At both schools she worked, she was praised for the increase in the grades of her students. Not only she kindly encouraged them to keep on studying, but she was understanding, and even met them outside to provide counseling on any matter. In fact, it is clearly stated more than once that all of her students were fond of her as a teacher. On a more personal insight, it is noticeable she has that of her father's personality, in her sense of even going to a stoical behaviour in order to avoid troubling others as well as to protect them from any harm, even by puting them aside or better putting herself out Volume 7: Chapter 63, page 3, for which she usually bottles up her true feelings Volume 11: Chapter 97, page 9. That could be evidenced since the very first chapter, when we learn that she is used to escaping during the breaks to the roof of the school, to cry alone when something is conflicting her — which in turn, leads her to cross paths with Natsu, who ends up cheering her up or at least truly trying to. This way of being has put her through two major conflicting situations to note. The first one is when she realized she was trapped in a worthless affair with the man that she used to admire back from highschool, Shū Hagiwara - she told Natsuo she had been struggling for six months not knowing how to put an end to that relationship, until she was confronted by Rui and him, after which she could come up with a resolution. The second one is when she tries to discretely handle the increasing harrasment of Kengo Tanabe, until his former fianceé opened her eyes and finally recurred to the police for assistance. Moreover, believing that was enough to settle things, she let her guard down, putting herself at the stake, because he chased her a week later with the intention of stabbing her. DnK Hina 3306.png|Hina bites Natsuo's hand DnK Hina 3308.png|Hina cries out that she doesn't want to be an adult DnK Hina 3310a.png|Ayano-san's 5-year-old-child, Youta, gives Hina a lollipop DnK Hina 3310b.png|Hina takes Youta's advice DnK Hina 3311.png|Hina tenderly calms down Hina.png|Hina seeing something she shouldn't have Even though most of the time she's a well behaved young adult, she also has this childish side - sometimes playful, sometimes stubborn - that maybe develops under the influence of herself wanting to be as young as to be with Natsuo. Thus, on chapter 33 for example, we can see how she bites Natsuo's hand out of anger and desperation on avoiding confronting him, and when rebuked by the Master of the Café-Bar, she wouldn't calm down until given a lollipop (which ended up showing her most tender inner side). She is really into comedy shows. She definitely enjoys watching them on TV Volume 1: Chapter 2, page 29 and going to live skits for amateurs from time to time, too - even to the point of greeting them after the performance Volume 2: Chapter 8, page 6. She also likes to go to Ramen Shops for which she usually treats Natsuo, so that he goes along with her Volume 19: Chapter 180, page 1. She is afraid of cockroaches to the point of runing away from seeing them, without worrying if she is wearing something or not Volume 3: Chapter 22, page 18. She also freezes up with thunder storms Volume 17: Chapter 155, page 6. As a child, she endured it for she thought she had to comfort her little sister, but she was terrified as well, especially if they were home alone. And after the Tanabe incident, she seemingly has gotten affected, starting to tremble at the minimum happening of a sudden and unrecognized noise Volume 21: Chapter 201, page 15. Relationships Deep Ties Natsuo Fujii He is her true love. They met when he was in his first year at Akamori High School, her being an English teacher there — still getting used to her first full-time job ever. One day in late October, as things got rocky in her classes, she went up to the rooftop to space out. What she didn't know at that time was that such place was Natsuo's favorite spot to develop his writing. So, there they properly met. As he found her in low spirits, he listened to her whining and encouraged her. Ever after then, they have been running into each other at the rooftop. Due to his insight, he soon realized that she only was there when something was troubling her, so he offered to listening to her anytime she needed. Wittily she replied “What if I fell in love with you upon hearing this ('cause even though) Hina-sensei isn't interested in younger boys, a nice child like you might be an exception”. That was the first time she slipped up her growing feelings for him. Having become aware of that, she stubbornly tried to discourage him - though she was really trying to restrain herself from her own feelings. 'Rui Tachibana' She is her younger sister. Hina loves her fondly, not just because of sisterhood obviousness, but for they have shared a lot of moments together. While they were little girls, Hina endured thunder storms for Rui's sake, so that she wouldn't feel scared Volume 17: Chapter 155, page 7. Since Elementary school, when Hina noticed Rui was depressed, she would sneak into Rui's bed to sleep together. Years later, when doing the same, she would tell her that getting depressed wasn't a bad thing as long as she didn't keep dwelling on it alone Volume 5: Chapter 58, page 4. However, it seems that Hina hadn't noticed that Rui had tried to unsuccessfully copy her way of getting friendly with others as a child Volume 1: Chapter 3, page 24. When she was twenty, she had Rui go along with her to shop for underwear. Then they exchanged their expectations about their ideal man, Volume 16: Chapter 149, between pages 7&8 “Love Talk” page 3 which turned out to be absolutely opposite to their current reality. Apparently, Rui used to have an issue with the size of Hina's breast. When they were at the hot spring during the Golden Week, for example, they groped each other on a playful thing between sisters. Volume 1: Chapter 5, page 4 This seems to have settled down by the next time they went to enjoy a hotspring trip together Volume 19: Chapter 181, page 11. However, after hearing for the first time from Rui that she was romantically interested in Natsuo, she decided to look for her own place to live, as she admitted to Natsuo, more than to let them be, because she was jealous of Rui's carefree ways, which above her tactless manners, were an expression of her firm sense of ‘self’ - something that Hina has always envied Rui for, and has longed for herself, as well Volume 4: Chapter 33, page 12. 'Tsukiko Tachibana' Her mother is her main reference of a successful woman, since she never gave up after the divorce. Hina truly doesn't want to disappoint her and gets conflicted when her mother feels suspicious about her relationship with Natsuo Volume 7: Chapter 58, page 13, that makes Hina conflicted, until she finally tells Natsuo Volume 7: Chapter 61, page 12. After her sudden transfer from schools, her mom hires a detective to find Hina's whereabouts Volume 8: Chapter 66, page 2. A year later, Hina comes back to visit for New Year. Then, she tells her mom how tough was moving to Oshima island and asks her if she can resign to her job and return homeVolume 14: Chapter 131, page 14. It was her not wanting to disappoint her mother, one of the reasons that make her falter on turning down Tanabe's proposal, but finally, when she made up her mind on that matter, she told her mom straight forward Volume 19: Chapter 175, page 2. 'Maki' Her university-days' best friend. A successful business woman who constantly gives her useful advice, to the point that she was the only person that Hina told about her forbidden relationship with Natsuo Volume 6: Chapter 53, page 11. Hina seems to respect her deeply, for she usually listens to her counsel Volume 14: Chapter 132, page 14, and even trusts her to open up her broken heart and express her feelingsVolume 16: Chapter 148, page 4. 'Susukino-san' An upperclasswoman from her current job. Even though she initially suggested to give it a chance instead of a straight forward turn down of the proposalVolume 19: Chapter 175, page 6, she later insisted Hina to report the stalking to the policeVolume 19: Chapter 181, page 6, and also walked her to the station after workVolume 19: Chapter 182, page 16. In fact, Hina was with her when they were approached by Kumi KayanoVolume 19: Chapter 182, page 17, the former fiancée of Kengo Tanabe. 'Urushibara-san' An upperclasswoman from her current job. When Hina was indecisive about the proposal of dating with the intentions of marriage, she provided with a concrete and useful insight to depict the ‘true colors’ of a man Volume 18: Chapter 174, page 5. Later, knowing that Hina had declined his proposal, she helped Hina to get rid of Kengo Tanabe, when he ambushed her at the lounge of the Hotel. She politely managed to ungrab her arm, and took Hina away safely. Later she would suggest to talk to the management about it Volume 19: Chapter 181, page 4. 'Owner-san' As she calls Kobayashi ‘Mari’-san, the boss from the Cafe Bar L'Amant. Even though they didn't have a good start. She has gotten used to discharging her feelings with him Volume 16: Chapter 149, page 3, listening to his advice Volume 16: Chapter 149, page 5 and also she has tagged along with him to help Natsuo Volume 23: Chapter 217, page 5. Acquaintances 'Fujii-san' Natsuo's father. From the very few times they have held a conversation, the one that outstands is when she is down after her first day looking for a job. Noticing that, he tells her that he knows about the grind of switching careers, but that she has to cheer up and look for the next opportunity because as long as she keeps moving she will see the light at the end of the tunnel, eventually Volume 15: Chapter 140, page 6. 'Fumiya-kun' Natsuo's best friend and a worker at the Cafe Bar L'Amant. Since he knows about their story, she comes to him whenever she wants to figure out what is going on with Natsuo. 'Kakizaki-kun' A 2nd Year of Highschool student at Oshima island. His father is the owner of the only liqueur shop in the island. He witnessed how Hina burst into tears as she recalled Natsuo Volume 10: Chapter 92, page 7. Before Hina left the island after her resignation to the job in the school, he told her that everybody aknoledge she was a great teacher. Volume 15: Chapter 137, page 10 'Kiriya-sensei' Former co-worker from Natsuo's school. He once asked for her assistance as a guardian at the Literature Club's camping trip Volume 3: Chapter 24, page 15. During the first night, he surprisingly asked her on how Hagiwara-kun was doing, to what she answered that she had been out of touch with Hagiwara-''sensei'' - that switch in titles meaning there was not a personal relationship anymore Volume 3: Chapter 25, page 13. Later, he would reveal that he had already noticed something was going on between her and Natsuo. But, even he didn't judge her, he thought there was some kind of karma in all that Volume 7: Chapter 64, page 10. DnK Hina 0137.jpg|Feeling trapped in an unworthy relationship… DnK Hina 0423 0909.jpg|…looking for a way out of such embarrasment… DnK Hina 7706.png|Time later, comfort is offered… DnK Hina 7707.png|…way too late to reach her heart… DnK Hina 7708.png|…for she has found the true love of her life. 'Shū Hagiwara' Her highschool-years former crush, but currently nothing more than someone from her past. Since the moment she started interacting with Natsuo, she realized she was expecting more from a relationship. That is why she asked him repeatedly to make up his mind about his marriage. But his indecisiveness led her to a change of heart. In the end, the last six months, she was just feeling trapped in the remnant of a past-teen-crush, that kept conflicting her a lot. 'Kengo Tanabe' The only son of a client from her mother's work. A successful white collar worker, but with a terrible underlying personality that makes him a manipulative and obsessive man, unable to handle rejection. Initially, Hina accepted his treats on a self imposed duty to avoid disappointing her mother again. But after thinking it through, she decided to turn him down before it became more serious. Unfortunately, that only triggered his darker inner self to surface, making her his target for a harsh stalking, something she didn't know how to handle on her own. References Category:Main Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Teachers